New quarterback.
Same old damned Jets.
Joe Flacco was the third quarterback to start for the Jets in their 10 games this season and it made no difference. The Jets lost another game, 24-17 to the Dolphins on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, to drop to 2-8.
The 36-year-old Flacco, who hadn’t started a game since last season and had all of one week of practice as the starter with the Jets — who traded for him on Oct. 25 — performed admirably as he completed 24 of 39 passes for 291 yards, two TDs and no INTs.
But that wasn’t good enough, because the Jets aren’t good enough.
They never are, are they?
Even when the Jets tease you with some good plays — and they got a number of them from some of their youngsters Sunday (most notably rookie receiver Elijah Moore, who caught eight passes for 141 yards and a TD, looking like the draft steal he appeared to be in training camp) — they cannot overcome the bad ones they always seem to make.
“I feel like just as an offense, myself included, as a whole today we did some good things,’’ Flacco said.
That they did, looking borderline dynamic at times while scoring their first TD on a fourth-and-goal Flacco scoring pass to Jamison Crowder, and executing on some trick and misdirection plays.
“But,’’ Flacco went on, ��we made too many mistakes to win the football game.’’
That they did, driving into Miami territory four times and coming away with zero points — one Flacco fumble on a sack, two missed Matt Ammendola field goals and a punt.
With rookie quarterback Zach Wilson expected to return from his right knee sprain for next Sunday’s game in Houston, this one looked like a one-and-done start for Flacco — who’s 0-7 in his past seven starts dating back to 2019 (0-5 with the Jets).
“Every time I take the field, I want to go out there and I want to play my best and put my team in the best position it can possibly be to win the football game,’’ Flacco said. “Obviously, we didn’t get that done today, but I’m going to continue to do that until I’m told that I’m not going to do that and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it.’’
The best thing Flacco can do now is counsel Wilson, who’s a willing sponge, eager to get better, to back up his No. 2-overall draft status.
“I laugh [because] I’ve told a couple of guys as soon as me and [Wilson] get together, he’s like a million questions, [which is] all good,’’ Flacco said. “Being able to talk to him is a lot of fun. I don’t have all the answers.’’
The Jets have been short on answers for too long now. But Wilson’s imminent return after missing the past four games at least resets this Jets season back to what it was meant to be about in the first place, which is developing Wilson.
The Jets have seven games remaining in 2021 to watch what they hope will be their bright future — Wilson passing the ball to Moore and handing it off to running back Michael Carter, a fellow rookie who rushed for 63 yards on nine carries before leaving the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Moore and Carter look like keepers. So does rookie guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, who’s a rookie in body but a veteran in spirit. Michael Carter II, the rookie nickel cornerback, has played consistently well. Rookie corner Bryce Hall has fought through some rough patches but held up admirably. Second-year safety Ashtyn Davis, who like Hall has had his share of growing pains, picked off his first pass Sunday.
Understandably, Jets fans don’t want to hear this because the losing has mounted to mind-numbing proportions, but playing these youngsters right now is what this season is about for the Jets. It’s been their plan all along.
“You want to play youth when you know that youth is going to be special,’’ coach Robert Saleh said. “We still have a lot of faith. We still think our quarterback [Wilson] is going to be special. There are a lot of first- and second-year players doing a lot of good things. Are there frustrating moments? Sure, there are. But, at the same time these are all scars that they are getting.’’
The Jets are on pace to lead the league in scar tissue by season’s end.
Their hope is that, by the time those scars have healed and hardened the team will be winning games like the one it gave away to the Dolphins Sunday with a month’s worth of mistakes crammed into three aggravating hours.